Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Michele Amitrani SERIES: Rebels of Olympus, #1 GENRE: Greek Myth Retelling PUBLICATION DATE: November 1, 2021 RATING: 4.75 stars. What new ways can I search to tell you the magic of Michele Amitrani’s writing? I’m a huge fan, so all you will find here is a ton of gushing praise for his latest retelling. This time, he brings to us the story of the much-maligned Pandora. You might have heard the tale of Pandora’s Box. When Pandora, the wife of the Titan Epimetheus, opened the jar gifted to her by Zeus in spite of the All-Father’s express warning against it, she brought into the human world every possible evil. The only saving grace was that she also released hope to the world. This story is the Greek myth explanation for why there is evil in the world. Whenever I’ve read this tale in the past, each rendition portrayed Pandora as a gullible woman who couldn’t control her curiosity and with her actions, changed the destiny of humankind. But this book is different; it springs from t...

AUTHOR: Tamiko Pettee GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: October 17, 2020 RATING: 4.5 stars. Emily the hedgehog is quite underconfident. Her friends can do wonderful things such as run fast, fly high or swim quickly. But all she seems to have is her quills that only seem to keep her friends away from her. But time and circumstances teach her that everything has a purpose and she learns to be comfortable in her own skin. This is a sweet story with really good illustrations and a great moral. The self-acceptance dilemma Emily faces can be applied in any context to teach children about how they should accept themselves for what they are rather than envy others their skills or looks. This book will work well in schools as well as for read-alouds at home.

AUTHOR: Kelly Barnhill GENRE: Middle-grade Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: August 9, 2016 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: I loved many, many things, but I am still undecided about many, many things. (Two whole days later!) Plot Preview: The Protectorate is a town filled with sorrow. Every year, on the day of sacrifice, they are compelled to offer their youngest baby as an offering to the witch in the forest. What they don’t know is that the witch, Xan, is a kindly soul who doesn’t understand why the townsfolk leave a baby in the forest every year. She rescues the babes and finds new homes for them in a nearby city. One year, she accidentally feeds an abandoned baby moonlight instead of starlight, thereby “enmagicking” her. She adopts this baby, names her Luna, and sets about keeping her safe from the magical powers surging inside her. Time goes on and one young father in the protectorate decides that enough is enough as his newborn is chosen as the next sacrifice for the witch. Will he be...

Author: Angela McAllister Illustrator: Hannah Bess Ross Genre: Story Collection, Children's Fiction Rating: 5 stars. What a fabulous and eclectic collection this is!!! I loved it from the first page to the last! This is a collection of 50 folktales and fables from around the world. And when this book says “around the world”, it does mean around the world, and it does so in a very fair manner. Unlike many other collections which contain most stories from the USA or European countries, some tales from Russia and just a couple of stories from elsewhere in the world, this book focusses on all parts of the globe equally. It groups the stories by regions such as Africa, Middle East, Australia and Oceania, North America, and so on. Within each region, the stories come from a variety of countries. Hardly any country is repeated. Thus what you get is a rich variety of culture and folklore from diverse narrative viewpoints. The stories too are distinct and most of them are not the typical fa...

Author: Jennifer Jenkins Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: If you want to know what happened in Eyam during the plague and how the citizens rallied together in those hard times, this is a great option. However, if you expect a well-structured and well-written book, you might end up disappointed. (‘might’ is the key word here.) Keeping a safe distance from others, staying at home as far as possible, dealing with deaths of family members while still surviving for the sake of those alive, understanding the importance of hygiene, the hope that the new year would bring a fresh start, the disappointment at some people profiteering from others’ struggles, simply living in hope day by day, growing closer to God, going farther from God,… all are aspects that are familiar to us since the last eighteen odd months. But we have been lucky in two ways: 1. Science is advanced enough to tell us the behaviour of viruses, and 2. Technology is advanced enough to help us keep in ...

AUTHOR: Louise Douglas GENRE: Historical Mystery PUBLICATION DATE: October 12, 2021 RATING: 4.5 happy stars. In a Nutshell: Great characters, great plot, great writing. What are you waiting for? Read this book!!!!! Story: I am determined not to give anything away from this tricky story. So trying my best to just give the bare bones. 1903: Emma Everdeen is an old nurse who works at the All Hallows asylum in rural Dartmoor. When a boat with two unconscious people in it—a woman and a child--is discovered by the locals, the survivors are brought to the asylum and the child is put under the care of Nurse Everdeen. They spend their days in a room in the attic, away from the rest of the patients. The child, Harriet, soon makes her place in the lonely nurse’s heart. 1993: Lewis Tyler’s life has turned topsy-turvy after his mother’s sudden death eighteen months ago. His father has remarried, his new stepmother hates him, his elder sister has gone away to college, and Lewis himself is bundled of...

AUTHOR: Maja Andersen GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: July 6, 2021 RATING: 5 stars! See how cute that cover is? The book matches it all the way! Little Bird has broken her wing and so she isn’t able to fly south for the winter. When she approaches some trees for help, they refuse her outright. But just as she begins to despair, some other trees pop up with offers of food and shelter till the winter goes by. This is a lovely retelling of a Native American story about how evergreen trees keep their leaves all through the winter while the deciduous ones stand bare. (The end of the book provides basic information on these two types of trees.) Within a few pages, it drives home the importance of kindness and charity. This story has the right length and vocabulary to make it perfect for bedtime reading. The illustrations add to the charm of the book. They are vibrant and old school, thus giving adults also a nostalgic feel while kids will be transfixed at the cuteness an...

AUTHOR: Rafaa Dalvi GENRE: Flash Fiction Anthology RATING: 3.75 stars. Until a couple of years ago, short stories simply meant short stories to me. It's only through my Facebook group and the interactions I've had there with authors that I've learnt about various sub-categories even within short stories. One of these is flash fiction, a very brief short story with sufficient plot and character development. While there is no predefined word limit for it, a hallmark of this genre is a clear plot hierarchy (start-middle-end) while maintaining brevity, and very often, a surprise ending. "Chasing Nirvana" is a flash fiction anthology that does a great deal of justice to the definition of the genre. It's a collection of 52 short-short stories, and most of these comply with the above requirements. The stories come from a wide variety of topics and genres: dark fiction, romance, sci-fi, thriller, drama,... The protagonists are good and bad and morally grey. Some stori...

AUTHOR: Dianna Wilson-Sirkovsky ILLUSTRATOR: Sara Casilda GENRE: Children's Picture Book. PUBLICATION DATE: October 5, 2021 RATING: 5 stars. Such a cute little story for every book lover and/or animal lover! James is a struggling reader. To cheer himself up and forget his troubles with reading, he visits the local rescue centre after school and plays with the cats there. However, one particular cat, whom James has named “ghost” remains adamantly aloof. James decides to start reading cat adventures to Ghost so that it might become friendlier and thus increase its chances of getting adopted. In this unselfish and kind gesture, James attains one more thing: his reading improves with every book he reads aloud to Ghost and his struggles with words have vanished. With a single story, the book effectively addresses two issues: reading and rescued animals. The content is simple and straightforward, and James will surely win everyone’s hearts. There are so many values brought forth by the s...

AUTHOR: Michele Amitrani SERIES: Rebels of Olympus, #5 GENRE: Greek Myth Retelling PUBLICATION DATE: September 1, 2021 RATING: 4.25 stars. Yet another Greek mythology retelling from the talented indie author Michele Amitrani! Have you heard the story of Persephone and Hades? I have, and I always wondered how Persephone could accept her fate with Hades so quietly, how Hades was such a villain for kidnapping her without anyone's consent, and how her mother Demeter bore the main brunt of her daughter's disappearance. Most tales focus only on Demeter's version of the events, with Persephone in the background as a complying heroine. This book tells us the story from Persephone's perspective. And how beautifully it does its job! Amitrani weaves a compelling story to fill in the mythological gaps and suddenly, you can empathise with the characters. Yes, even with the supposed villain, Hades. The retelling turns the kidnapping story into one of love and understanding and sacrif...

AUTHOR: Jason Reynolds ILLUSTRATOR: Alexander Nabaum GENRE: Middle-grade story collection. RATING: 4.5 stars. A wonderful collection of ten stories all set around a common theme of children walking home from school. The characters overlap in a few of the stories but the main character(s) are distinct for each tale. This isn’t a typical children’s anthology and these are the reasons why: 👉 So many authors steer clear of "taboo" topics -- parental illness, deaths, abuse, bullying, homosexuality -- and make children's fiction goody-goody happy experiences. Not Jason Reynolds. 👉 So many authors will try to incorporate higher level vocabulary in their works so that the book ends up as an "educational" experience for its young readers. Not Jason Reynolds. A tardigrade isn't called a tardigrade, it's a water bear. That's indicative of an author who knows what his readers enjoy. 👉 Show me one author who can write a story around boogers and still make it ...

Author: Jane Davis Genre: Contemporary Literary Fiction. Rating: 4.5 stars. This was a tough one to review. I’m still at a loss about where to begin. My usual “Nutshell” summation escapes me. So I’ll just start by saying: I LOVED this book, but it is not for everyone. Read on to see if this book will work for you. Story: The story comes to us from multiple perspectives and over multiple timelines. Ayisha, July 2010 onwards – A high school teacher, the story begins with her discovering that one of her colleagues, Jim Stevens, has been stabbed in broad daylight in the school grounds. There’s a big group of stunned students surrounding him, but no one wants to confess what happened. Ayisha chooses Shamayal, one of the students, to assist her in providing first aid to Jim until medical assistance arrives. But when she later discovers that Shamayal and Jim are friends, she wonders if she should report her colleague to the educational authorities. Why does she hesitate? What makes her, a str...

AUTHOR: Stephen G. Bowling GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: November 30, 2020 RATING: 4.25 stars This is a sweet little story about a little robin named “Simon”. He wants to invite all his farm animal friends to his home. But as can be expected, they are too big to fit in his little house. Simon is depressed until his mother figures a way around the problem. The story is simple and straightforward, and yet it drives home many important points, two of which are: 👉 Where there is a will there is a way; and 👉 Home is where your heart is. It was also nice to see Simon have a variety of animal friends, rather than being restricted only to birds. It drives home a subtle point of being open to diversity. The book is written in simple rhythmic verse that flow in pleasant harmony. So this will be a wonderful read-aloud companion for early readers as the rhymes don’t sound jarring. The illustrations are really cute and vibrant, though in some cases, actual animal proportion...

AUTHOR: Stephen G. Bowling GENRE: Children's Picture Book. PUBLICATION DATE: July 25, 2021 RATING: 4.5 stars Simon the robin returns with yet another quest. This time, he is off to seek a scary dragon whom he has heard of. But none of his friends seem to be aware of this dragon until Simon finally meets the Wise Owl who points him in the right direction. This story is even cuter than the first book. Once again, it was nice to see a variety of animals in the narration. Simon’s exuberance is contagious and you will be as curious as he is to know the whereabouts of the dragon. Of course, I was a bit surprised to see him, a robin, approaching an eagle and an owl to seek answers. Wouldn’t he be instinctively scared of birds of prey? I was also confused about how Simon heard the stories of the scary dragon while none of his friends had even heard of a dragon being around. But that’s just me, over-applying logic as always. From a child’s perspective, the book should work just fine. I love...

AUTHOR: Moritz Petz ILLUSTRATOR: Amelie Jackowski GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: July 22, 2004 RATING: 4.5 stars. What a wonderful book this is! A simple story with a fabulous message. Badger has woken up in a really bad mood. ( I so empathise with him. Mornings can be tough! ) As he goes along his day, he rebuffs all friends who attempt to chat with him. While his mood improves as the day progresses, he realises that his friends are now in a grumpy mood, all thanks to him. The story is written in simple prose and fairly easy vocabulary. Early readers should be able to handle the book independently as well. There are many expressive dialogues so this will be a treat for read-alouds. I loved the illustrations too. They are so vibrant! The animals are drawn in such an expressive manner that you can gauge their mood just by looking at them. The only minor complaint I have is that the dissolution of Badger’s bad mood happens within the span of a sentence. It seemed to...

AUTHOR: Glenn Ringtved ILLUSTRATOR: Charlotte Pardi TRANSLATOR: Robert Moulthrop GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: February 16, 2016 RATING: 5 stars! What a wonderful book this is! Never thought a book on such a dreary topic could be handled so beautifully. Death has come to take away the grandmother of four little children. So they decide to try diverting his attention away from his task. He then tells them a beautiful story that helps them understand how life is incomplete without death. This would be a fabulous book to help little children understand something as tragic as death. As the Grim reaper himself puts it, "Cry, Heart, But Never Break." Don't allow the grief to overwhelm you but remember that life moves on, and focus on the good memories of those who are no longer with you. The message that the book conveys is important for adults too. So this can be a beautiful book to read together if you want to explain the why's of death to your chi...

AUTHOR: Kimberly Garvin ILLUSTRATOR: Saadiq Wicks GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: July 26, 2017 RATING: 3.5 stars This is a book that has its heart in the right place. Oliver is a seven year old who is great in many activities but hates to speak. The reason? He has a stutter. After escaping his school speaking assignment on “All About Me” for a long time, he approaches his mother for help. She makes him realise that his stutter is a part of who he is and he needs to accept it willingly. This marks a turnaround in his thinking. The moral of the story is fabulous. You actually feel for Oliver when he stutters, “I don’t want them to know all about me.” So many children lose their confidence because of their so-called shortcomings. But if they accept it, laugh at it, and don’t shy away from it, life can certainly be a bit easier for them. That’s where this book does really well. The message comes out very clearly. I do wish the end weren’t so abrupt. It would have been...

AUTHOR: Megha Majumdar GENRE: Indian Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: June 2, 2020 RATING: 4.5 stars. Have you ever read a book where you don’t want to shut the book even after you complete reading it? Where you just stare into vacant space, shocked and speechless? Where the characters stay in your head even when you want them to leave you? Where you don’t want to believe that such type of people actually exist in real life but deep down, you know that they do? When I picked up this book, it was just another Indian author book but to be taken with a pinch of salt. After all, it came with a boatload of expectations attached: much-acclaimed, well-reviewed, a finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction in 2021, a Goodreads Choice Award finalist for Fiction and for Debut Novel in 2020, and despite all this, a GR rating of just 3.75 ( my usual cut-off for GR ratings is 3.8 ) I was prepared to be disappointed and just wanted to get this book out of my TBR. Boy, was...

AUTHOR: Christina Furnival ILLUSTRATOR: Katie Dwyer GENRE: Children's Nonfiction. PUBLICATION DATE: September 14, 2021 RATING: 4.5 stars As parents, we tell our children to be kind and friendly with everyone. But in the course of giving this advice, we tend to forget that there are bullies too in this world. All of us know at least one bully who doesn’t listen to reason but insists on getting things their way. For children (and adults), a bully is difficult to deal with. That’s where this book steps in. The biblical adage of “Do unto others as you would like others to do unto you” is something I firmly believe in. The child in this story also follows the same approach. She is sweet and friendly with everyone. But despite her best efforts, one of the children always fights with her. After trying harder and speaking with her parents, she realises that she needs to set some boundaries not just for herself but in how she allows others to treat her. The idea of the book is great, the ex...

AUTHOR: Melissa Dalton Martinez ILLUSTRATOR: Tom Tolman GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: August 31, 2021 RATING: 3.5 stars. Tough to believe that the very first Doctor Dolittle story was published more than a hundred years ago in 1920. This picture book contains a much simplified version of the classic story but with an interesting little twist midway. I was a bit disappointed because the story here doesn’t flow very smoothly. If you have ever heard a child narrating some incident, the flow is usually “I went here. I saw this. And then I went there. I did that. And then I met him…“ You don’t get descriptions or feelings. You get crisp sentences full of actions and you wonder where the story is going. And that’s exactly what this story gives you; one action sentence after another. There is not much smoothness between the scene changes and this leads to some gaps in the plot. But I need to consider it from the target reader’s perspective and that age group is the 2-5 ...